61 miles + 2 for dinner later = 63 total
Crossed this again today. Lots of downhill ahead!
Big wind!
I will say that I am at a morale low right now. It is incredibly lonely out here, and the food absolutely sucks. Breakfast yesterday was McDonalds, lunch was Quiznos (actually OK), dinner was a whole but very questionable pizza in Lordsburg. My only other options in that town were McDonald's or a restaurant where it would have been too expensive for me to get enough calories (i.e. 2 main courses). Breakfast today was good since it was provided by Best Western. Lunch was McDonald's. Dinner was Subway with a second visit to McDonald's to fluff up my footlong sub with a large fries. I will eat an entire bag of gas station donuts for a snack later. This is how it is likely going to be for the next two weeks: lonely and eating crappy food. It sucks.
And since I'm in such a great mood, I feel like going on a rant to blow of some steam. *Note this is an edited version of what I had written before. I might have let me frustrations with my own food situation get the better of me last night. When I walked into McDonald's this evening, the place was empty. I ordered, and my fries appeared almost instantly. I scarfed them down and went back outside to grab my bike and ride back tonight's Best Western. When I left McDonald's, I counted 11 (ELEVEN!) cars in the drive-through line. How lazy are people? Are they allergic to exercise? Can't anyone get out of car to go inside? It would be faster to just go inside, and it would save wasteful idling in line. I have seen so much of this year, and it is so incredibly frustrating. I think the previous version of this rant shows how frustrated I am with the American dependence on cars. It is really sad.
Geez man, don't blame the victims here. Their food options are just as limited as yours, they probably didn't know there was no line inside, and when you live in a town like Lordsburg without biking infrastructure there just aren't a lot of good options.
ReplyDeleteAs I noted in the blog title, this was supposed to be a sarcastic commentary. I have added an additional note in the blog to reflect this.
ReplyDeleteThat area is pretty rough for food options. If you are feeling up to it when you get to El Paso, my wife and I live just up the road from the Best Western (the one on Sunland Park anyway). We can definitely find something better than McDonalds! Drop me a line if you are interested: kwfloyd at gmail.com
ReplyDeleteSafe (and fast) riding!
Kevin
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ReplyDeleteRight on Dorian! While I don't eat McD's food (my ass is plenty big enuf), when I need to hit those wonderfully clean bathrooms, I don't go through the drive-through.
ReplyDeleteBut seriously, I wish you the best of luck and a strong tailwind to your destination.
A mean-spirited rant labeled as sarcasm that still comes across as a mean-spirited rant. Maybe it is funny somehow, but count me as a reader who is puzzled by what purpose it serves. As a liberal, to me it's at best a buzz-kill. Probably total turn-off to somebody who doesn't share our worldview.
ReplyDeleteAfter ten month on the road Dorian finally states the obvious in a very moderate tone, speaking out not even against but rather just towards Americas obsession with cars. He doesn't even mention climate change or the Texas/Californian drought which many would think to be strongly connected to this kind of lifestyle. And still he gets commentary like this by someone who calls himself a liberal, who should be some kind of birder since he follows this blog. Simply incredible.....
DeleteGreetings from old Europe
D.
Forget about the trolls, Dorian. Great to let the elephant out of the room.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you 100 percent. The other day I was scanning the ocean from a parking lot in my home town and it was a beautiful 75 degrees F. There was some guy and his wife soaking in the beautiful scenery while sitting in his suped up F-250 with the Diesel engine running the whole time, about 30 minutes. Now I know it was not for temperature control b/c it was beautiful. So was he burning tons of gas so he could listen to some music? Maybe. But I was disgusted. Whether folks like you can change that attitude, I doubt it but it's worth trying.
ReplyDeleteYou need a Sizzler along your route. Unfortunately I don't see any. Hang in there man. Next time you're in town, I'm taking you to all you can eat sushi.
ReplyDeleteIt is hard to understand other people's lives if we don't know who they are and what their struggles are. As someone who rarely goes through a drive-through (banks excepted), I understand the confusion but I have certainly done it and cannot blame them (something about glass houses). Your journey is amazing and admirable...perhaps there was some low blood sugar aiding the sarcasm? Been there, done that. Now imagine living in a similar food desert instead of just passing through......
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ReplyDeleteI agree with Dorian 100%... except for the part about "walking into Mcdonalds" counting as "exercise." That is the ultimate American irony... and a very sad state of affairs. Industrial agriculture, carbon emissions, and obesity all swirling together and perpetuating a cycle that will sadly not have a happy ending for our people or our planet. Sorry for the pessimism.
ReplyDeleteI understand your food issues. If any one can/should be eating fast food it is you since you're burning so many calories daily. Hope you can break the habit in 2015.
ReplyDeleteAs for the quality of food in Lordsburg and Deming, you missed some pretty decent Mexican food. Maybe not the best but certainly much better than you get at home. But you should be able to get good New Mexican food in the Las Cruces /El Paso area.
Like it or not America is a Car Nation, especially in the west where you know as well as any one there are long distances between almost everything. Those lazy folks in Deming, well I'm willing to bet they are among the low income, over weight so common everywhere today. I drive through there on a regular basis and they are no different than people in Wicox, Tucson, Albuquerque, and everywhere else across the country. Maybe just struggling a bit more to make a living in the northern Chihuahuan Desert.
As for editing your blog: it's your blog and if anyone else is upset about it that is their problem not yours. I see your blog as documenting an amazing journey. Don't apologize for how you feel.
Good luck as you cross West Texas, one of the most amazing landscapes of the US. Unfortunately I have a feeling you will be missing Big Bend, the Davis Mountains, and the extensive grasslands found there.
Be safe out there as you're spinng tires to your next destination
SPL
Dorian: I live in Pennsylvania, and in small towns in the "heartland," the food sucks. It's a decent food desert. I hate to have to travel to the "hinterlands" and eat iceberg lettuce and hothouse tomato "salad" with bottled dressing. So, I know whereof you speak.
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